Black Sabbath voted most important British hard rock band ever

Black Sabbath have been named the most important British hard rock band in a new poll.

The Birmingham band, led by Ozzy Osbourne, were named the most important hard rock group in a BPI poll of 3,600 hard rock and metal fans. Sabbath were far ahead of their competition, taking almost half of all votes cast. Iron Maiden and Led Zeppelin came in second and third respectively. Speaking about coming out on top of the poll, Sabbath stated: “We are honoured and flattered to be acknowledged in a poll like this which is voted for by the fans. We thank you.”

The same poll also revealed that Metallica’s self-titled 1991 album – also known as ‘The Black Album’ – was the one album metal fans would recommend to a heavy metal novice. Three quarters of those polled said they consider Britain to be the home of metal.

Black Sabbath recently revealed that they are six tracks into recording their new album, which is due for release in April of next year. Tony Iommi has said that the final album will consist of 15 tracks. The Guardian quotes the guitarist as saying: “We’ve written the 15 songs and we’ve played them all, but now at the moment we’re recording them. We’re about six tracks in at the moment.”

Iommi also confirmed that the legendary metal band are working on the new album without original drummer Bill Ward. “We’ll always have a heart for Bill, but I think it’s gone past that now, because it’s gone on so long I don’t see that happening at the moment,” he said.